Method and apparatus for handling coils of wire



xmmqw Nov. 20, 1962 L. S. FONS ET AL METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING COILS OF WIRE Filed July 24, 1959 PIE- E 3 Sheets-Sheet l Nov. 20, 1962 L. s. FONS ETAL METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING COILS OF WIRE Filed July 24, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS' LELAND 5. FONS and CHARLES E FRANK-5 Attorney Nov. 20, 1962 L. SEFONS ETAL 3,064,828

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING COILISLIOF, WIRE Filed July 24. 1959 s Sheets-Sheet :s

[NI/E LELAND FOIV-S' and CHARLES E. FRAIVKS By I Attorney 3,064,828 P/IETHUD AND APPARATUS FGR HANDLING COlLS F WIRE Leland S. Fons and Charles E. Franks, Wauiregan, 113.,

assignors to United States Steel Corporation, a corporation of New Jersey Filed July 24, 1959, Ser. No. 829,315 4 Claims. (Cl. 214-8) This invention relates to a m thod and apparatus for handling coils of wire and more particularly to the handling and strapping of wire coils between the wire drawing machine and a storage location. During this handling it is necessary to apply straps to the wire coils in position on a rack. This was previously done with various types of apparatus and by various methods, none of which have proved completely satisfactory.

It is therefore an object of our invention to provide an eliicient method of handling coils of wire between the wire drawing machines and coil storage.

Another object is to provide apparatus suitable for use in the method of our invention.

These and other objects will be more apparent after referring to the following specification and attached drawin gs, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of the portable strapping rack of our invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the rack of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation of an attachment for a lift truck;

FIGURE 4 is a front elevation of the attachment of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged detail of the rack of FIG- URES 1 and 2; and

FIGURES 6, 7 and 8 show various steps in the method of our invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawings reference numeral 2 indicates the strapping rack of our invention. The rack 2 includes a steel plate having four channels 6 extending perpendicularly therefrom and welded thereto. In normal position the plate 4 will be horizontal and the channels 6 vertical. A channel 3 is welded to the top of plate 4 in alignment with each of the channels 6. A rounded plate It? is welded to each set of the channels 6 and 3 at their intersection. A pair of bars 12 are welded to each channel 8 one on each side thereof. The

' channels 6 are arranged with their flanges facing outwardly and channels 3 with their flanges facing upwardly. Reinforcing plates 14 may be provided for the channels 6 as shown. The plate at is preferably octagonal as shown with parallel sides 16 extending at an angle to channels 3. A pair of angles 13 are welded to the bottom of plate 4 parallel to the sides 16 with one leg of each extending downwardly and the other leg of each horizontal and facing each other. The plate 4 has a side 24} generally perpendicular to sides 16 with a roller assembly 24 being welded to the bottom of plate 4 adjacent the side .20. The roller assembly 24 consists of two brackets 26 having aligned holes 28 therein for receiving a shaft 30. Bearings '32 mounted on shaft 30 rotatably support a roller 34. A bent clamping bar 36 is welded to the top of plate 4 opposite side and extends between the adjacent channels 8. The plate 26' is cut away at 38.

Apparatus for handling the strapping rack 2 includes standard fork lift tractors 42 and 42 such as shown in Coash et al. Patent No. 2,877,906. Each of the tractors 42 and 4-2 has a mast 44 which carries a movable mast bar 46. The bar 46 of tractor 42 carries the usual fork 48. The bar 46 of tractor 42' carries a special hitch assembly 59. The hitch assembly 50 includes an L-shaped member 52 having hook members 54 and 56 fastened to its vertical leg and which receive the mast bar 46.

fine

Horizontal leg 53 carries a clamping jaw 60 on its top surface and has side guides 62- welded to its sides. A second clamping jaw 64 is pivotally attached to the vertical leg of member 52 by means of a pin 66 which extends between spaced apart brackets 67 welded to member 52. Spaced apart brackets 68 are detachably fastened to the top of jaw 64. A nut 70 is received between brackets 68 and is pivotally connected thereto by means of pins 72 secured to nut 70. The lower end of a threaded rod 74 is screwed into the nut 70. Spaced apart brackets 76 are fastened to the member 52 above jaw 64 and pivotally support a sleeve 78. Pins 8% are provided on sleeve 78 for this purpose. The rod 74 passes through the opening in sleeve 78 and has a handle 82 fastened to its upper end. The sleeve 78 is secured between the handle 82 and a collar 33 forming part of the rod 74. The jaws 6t} and 6e have opposed grooves 606 and 64G for receiving clamping bar 36.

Bundles of wire W from the wire drawing machine (not shown) are placed on the strapping rack 2 in any suitable manner, such as by a standard basket stripper. The bars 12 aid in centering the bundles of wire. After the rack 2 is fully loaded a fork lift tractor 42 places its forks 43 beneath the plate 4 between angles 18. The forks 4-8 are then lifted on the mast 44 and the tractor 42 carries the rack 2 to the upper end of a gravity roller conveyor 84 as shown in FlGURE 6. The rack 2 with the bundles W thereon are conveyed to the lower end of con veyor 84 where four fiat band straps S are placed around the bundle. The channels 6 and 8 provide openings for permitting insertion of the straps S. The tractor 42 with the hitch 5% attached thereto is then positioned at the lower end of conveyor 84 and the clamping bar 36 is clamped between jaws 60 and 64. Assuming that the jaws 66 and 64 are in open position this is done by turning handle 82 which causes rod 74 to rotate in nut 70 and move jaw 64 to the position shown in FIGURE 3. The rack 2 is then pulled from conveyor 84 down ramp 86 with the axis of the rack in vertical position and the end of the rack opposite bar 36 supported by roller 34. The mast bar 46 is then raised by the operator until the rack is in the tipped position shown in FIGURE 7 so that the total weight of the rack and its load rests on the roller 34. In this position the rack is moved to a storage area or to a stripping stand 88 by rolling it along the floor. When the tractor 42 reaches the stripping stand 88 the rack 2 and bundle W are placed in tilted position against the stand 88 and the mast bar 46 raised until the loaded rack 2 is clear of the floor with its axis in a generally horizontal position as shown in FIGURE 8 with the bundle W resting on the stripping stand 88. The tractor 42' is then backed up to strip the rack from the bundle of wire W.

While one embodiment of our invention has been shown and described it will be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. A strapping rack for bundles of wire comprising a plate, a plurality of channels fastened to the top of said plate in a generally radial direction with their open end facing upwardly, a vertical channel associated with each of said first named channels extending upwardly from said plate adjacent the center thereof with its open end facing outwardly, said vertical channels forming a support for receiving the eyes of the bundles of wire, a pair of downwardly extending spaced apart longitudinal flanges fastened to the bottom of said plate, a roller fastened to the bottom of said plate adjacent the periphery thereof with its axis generally horizontal and normal to a plane parallel to said flanges, the bottom of said flanges being at least as great a distance from the bottom of said plate as is the bottom of said roller, and gripping means on the side of said plate opposite said roller.

2. A strapping rack for bundles of wire comprising a plate, a plurality of channels fastened to the top of said plate in a generally radial direction with their flanges facing upwardly, a vertical channel associated with each of said first named channels extending upwardly from said plate adjacent the center thereof with its flanges facing outwardly, said vertical channels forming a support for receiving the eyes of the bundles of wire, a pair of spaced apart generally parallel angles fastened to the bottom of said plate with one leg of each angle extending downwardl a roller fastened to the bottom of said plate adjacent the periphery thereof with its axis generally normal to a plane parallel to the said angles, the bottom of said an les being at least as great a distance from the bottom of said plate as is the bottom of said roller, and a bar on the side of said plate opposite said roller, said plate having an opening therein adjacent said bar.

3. A strapping rack for bundles of wire comprising a a flat plate having at least two pairs of parallel sides with the sides of one pair generally normal to the sides of the other pair, four channels fastened to the top of said plate with their flanges facing upwardly, said channels extending outwardly from the center of said plate toward the periphery thereof and being arranged generally at right angles with respect to each other and at an acute angle with respect to the sides of said plate, a vertical channel associated with each of said first named channels extending upwardly from said plate with its flanges facing outwardly, a pair of spaced apart generally parallel angles fastened to the bottom of said plate parallel to one pair of said sides with one leg of each angle extending downwardly, a roller fastened to the bottom of said plate adjacent one side of the other of said pair of sides with its axis generally parallel thereto, the bottom of said angles being at least as great a distance from the bottom of said plate as is the bottom of said roller, and a bar on the side of said plate opposite said roller, said plate having an opening therein adjacent said bar.

4. The method of handling bundles of wire which comprises placing bundles of wire on a rack having a roller on its base adjacent the periphery thereof, carrying said loaded rack with its axis substantially vertical References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,818,289 White Aug. 11, 1931 1,818,358 Romine Aug. 11, 1931 2,120,042 Remde June 7, 1938 2,366,065 Sieurin Dec. 26, 1944 2,696,920 Anjeskey Dec. 14, 1954 2,706,658 Jewell Apr. 19, 1955 2,713,431 Koehler July 19, 1955 2,772,918 Klinger Dec. 4, 1956 2,841,301 Sherriff July 1, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 540,368 Belgium Aug. 31, 1955 1,122,867 France Sept. 13, 1956 

